What's the deal with Kerambits?

J

J. MacDonald

Joined
Jun 8, 2000
Messages
3,140
I've tried and tried, but I just can't find any love for the Kerambit design. I know it's got lots of fans, but I ca't figure out why. The blade design seems completely impractical for anthing but a down and dirty knife fight. Besides looking vicious, is there any real use for these things?

Heaven forbid that I ever had to use a knife defensively, I certainly wouldn't want to be in court trying to explain why I was carrying a Kerambit and had to defend myself with it.

Kerambit fans, please fill me in on the charm of this design.

John
 
John, I'm pretty much with you as well. DaveH - agreed. I guess, any blade with the concave edge shape will cut well in a pulling direction. It is enhanced by the blade-to-handle angle and orientation. I'm not a great fan of the finger ring myself. Just another canvas for knifemakers to challenge themselves ? If I had a kerambit, it wouldn't be for anything "martial." I see myself cutting open boxes and pruning flowers in my garden - thats what I make that pattern of knife for. Jason.
 
It's just a fad.

Although the blade construction allows for it to inflict massive damage, i don't think that kerambits would be any more effective than a regular knife in the hands of a skilled user.

Given a choice between a cuda maxx and kerambit, give the the cuda maxx any day. twice the blade length more than makes up for the kerambit's construction.
 
IMO, it's just what's in style at the moment.
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It's just a fad
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That depends on how you define "moment."

It's a style that's been used for hundreds of years.

It is a knife that is very martial in its design. It is a form-follows-function knife for specific fighting techniques.

The design is Indonesian in its origin, I think. The Indonesains have long been well-known as outstanding knife fighters. But, they are basically a poor people. That means that they don't have a lot of spare money to spend on fancy, frilly things. Nor do they have money to spend on styles or fads. They stick with what works and they've been using Kerambit design-knives for hundreds of years. This tells us that it is a very valid style of knife for the purpose intended.

The problem I have with some of the folks currently pushing Kerambits is the implication that some of these people sell that if you buy their magic knife AND their amazing video, you too can become a fearsome knife fighter in just sixty minutes.
 
Then again, we have other companies out there selling more dream than knife in other ways, those that imply that if you buy their amazing knife, you will be immediately called to go off on amazing secret missions rescuing hostages and "deanimating" terrorists... no video even necessary.
 
i think it`s just a kind of hype,
like (in TV) cant your handgun 90dg to the left and shoot without sights.

It may work ..
and it may look good ..

but if you are not specially trained to do so,

it will look just funny.
 
Gollnick said:
That depends on how you define "moment."

It's a style that's been used for hundreds of years.

It is a knife that is very martial in its design. It is a form-follows-function knife for specific fighting techniques.

The design is Indonesian in its origin, I think. The Indonesains have long been well-known as outstanding knife fighters. But, they are basically a poor people. That means that they don't have a lot of spare money to spend on fancy, frilly things. Nor do they have money to spend on styles or fads. They stick with what works and they've been using Kerambit design-knives for hundreds of years. This tells us that it is a very valid style of knife for the purpose intended.

The problem I have with some of the folks currently pushing Kerambits is the implication that some of these people sell that if you buy their magic knife AND their amazing video, you too can become a fearsome knife fighter in just sixty minutes.
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yeah, i'm not saying kerambits haven't been around for awhile. I'm talking about now, in the United States, the reason they are so popular is simply because they're something "new". 10 bucks says a few people saw the punisher, went "oh thats a cool looking knife" then went out and bought an emerson kerambit and training video and now think they can take anyone on.
 
I call fad. Same way gung fu san soo was hyped to hell when it was renamed SCARS. Take an old design, beadblast it and slap on some G10, and it's a mall ninja tool of obliteration. I'm gonna pick up something <$100 just to play with, but I don't see it being any more useful than a hundred other patterns out there.
 
The kerambit was originally used in Indonesia to harvest crops. I assume it would still do a good job of that. Perhaps a snappy and interesting gardening knife?
 
traditionally kerambits are last ditch/hidden weapons. like daggers and small dirks. were they tools for harvesting rice? I don't know much about that aspect, I'm afraid.

What I think is that anyone caught carrying a kerambit in countries with the catch-all "offensive weapons" legislation - think UK and commonwealth states would have a very difficult time explaining to the coppers why it isn't an offensive weapon.
 
spyken said:
... anyone caught carrying a kerambit in countries with the catch-all "offensive weapons" legislation ... would have a very difficult time explaining to the coppers why it isn't an offensive weapon.
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Just tell them you're on your way to your rice paddy. :cool:
 
Here's a couple of more traditional styles sold by Kriss cutlery. Lookie Here
I think they're pretty neeto-- but I pretty much like anything with a sharp edge on it.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Just tell them you're on your way to your rice paddy. :cool:
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the funny thing is, i'm chinese, i might actually be able to pull it off
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Just tell them you're on your way to your rice paddy. :cool:
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the only rice I'd be harvesting would be from the ones in vacumn-packed polyethylene bags in the supermarket :D
 
There you go, spyken -- those polyethylene bags can be tough to rip open. A good hooking motion with an ancient Southeast Asian agricultural tool would be just the thing to pierce a convenient hole to pour the rice out.

Nixelplix's pix show a couple of real kerambits, which are legitimate working knives with real blades. I bet their handles are too small for my hands, though ... :(
 
As the Sayoc DVD explains, there's a lot of leverage possible with kerambits, especially in reverse grip, although they're faster in forward grip. Also with the smaller bladed versions, they're almost impossible to disarm without the BG being cut/hit. Drawbacks are the funky, "martial" look and the decreased reach and range with most practically-sized models.

In fact, for women, small folding kerambits held in forward grip might be an excellent choice in terms of simple, easily mastered swiping movements as Graciela Casillas recommended with her Ladyhawk on the Paladin MOD video. Couple the kerambit handle with my suggestion to MOD (ignored) to shorten the blade to CA-auto length for an auto mechanism, and there's a tool I'd carry for primary defense.

As to Spyken's reminder of the "catch-all" clause, I'm hard-pressed to think of a country/state without one. Upshot: it's your life, not the state's; it's your responsibility to protect yourself, not the state's. When the state is capable of protecting all of us, all of the time--a goal never met even in Soviet Russia, BTW--then maybe they can dictate terms. Until then, I'll be damned if I let them dictate what I carry or how I use it when statutes and precedents give the state the option to protect me or not, and hide behind sovereign immunity regardless of outcome, either by incorrect action or omission of action.
 
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